Archives for January 24th, 2006

The medieval days in Kranj. (source)

James Randi, the man behind the James Randi Educational Foundation, has been fighting paranormal nonsene since he was a teenager. His weekly commentary recently focused on Slovenia ("Slovenia Backs into the Middle Ages") after someone wrote to him complaining:

"I thought it might interest you that the Slovenian government and parliament have gone partially bonkers. A new law is in the procedure that would enable homeopathic medicines to be legally registered."

Randi gives a withering response, ending with a direct appeal to Ljubljana:

"I hope the Slovenian government will think again before falling into this trap of accepting pseudoscience; this is an opportunity for them to show their resistance to a form of medical treatment which, though immensely popular, is nonetheless useless and belongs back in medieval days.  Remember, not too long ago the process of blood-letting was standard procedure in medical practice.  It was discovered that this was not only ineffective, but was exceedingly damaging.  A long history of use is not a sufficient qualification for acceptance."

Other people in similar situations (in South Africa, Brazil and Mexico) wrote in to discuss the subject. I guess we’ll see what happens. I’m personally rooting for the scientific method. Go team!

I should mention, though, that if you or anyone you know has paranormal powers, Randi is offering a million dollars to see them demonstrated. All you have to do is "demonstrate any psychic, supernatural or paranormal ability under satisfactory observing conditions" and the cash is yours. The application is here. Oddly enough, not a single person has been able to do it so far.

(Thanks Marbit!)